Busting Myth, People Turn More Liberal With Age

New research has debunked the myth that people become more conservative as they age.

Credit: stock.xchng

The stereotype of a cranky old man, set in his ways, getting
more conservative by the day, is an enduring one. But new research has debunked
the myth that people become more conservative as they age.

By comparing surveys of various age groups taken over a span
of more than 30 years, sociologists found that in general, Americans' opinions
veer toward the liberal as they grow older.

"All the evidence we have found refutes the idea that
as people age their attitudes become more conservative or more rigid,"
said Nicholas Danigelis, a sociologist at the University of Vermont. "It's
just not true. More people are changing in a liberal direction than in a
conservative direction."

Detailed study

Danigelis and collaborators Stephen Cutler of
the University of Vermont and Melissa Hardy of Pennsylvania State University
analyzed data from the U.S. General Social Surveys of 46,510 Americans between 1972
and 2004. While the surveys did not provide data for the same individuals at
different stages, they represented snapshots of the changing attitudes of
respondents in different age cohorts over time. The researchers corrected for
the fact that the age groups at different survey times are made of up new
members with unique baseline opinions.

The surveys assessed attitudes
on politics, economics, race, gender, religion and sexuality issues. In some
cases, such as racial issues and questions of civil liberties for communists,
the researchers measured a greater change toward liberalism in older people
than in younger people.

"What we believe has happened, at least for the race
relations, is that the older group, starting out at a position of significantly
more negative feelings, had further to go," Danigelis told LiveScience.

If people really become more liberal as they age, why does
common wisdom hold the opposite to be true?

People might find an average 60-year-old to be more
conservative than an average 30-year-old, Danigelis said, but beware of
extrapolating a trend. The older person, for example, might have started off
even more conservative than he or she is now.

Danigelis also blamed the misconception on pervasive
negative attitudes toward the elderly in our country, and stereotypes that
depict seniors as rigid, ornery and set in their ways.

"If you look at any greeting cards about getting older
you’ve got a wonderful lecture about age stereotypes," he said. "My
colleague continues to cut out cartoons about getting old and trying to teach
old dogs new tricks."

Election impact

Danigelis said politicians and pundits should try to steer
clear of stereotypes in the upcoming
election.

"The assumption that older voters are stuck their ways
of thinking or are likely to go with a conservative candidate and are not open
to new information — I think there's a lot of information to suggest that
that’s not going to happen," he said.

He urged people to judge John McCain, the 71-year-old
Republican nominee for president, on his politics rather than his age.

"Age will be an issue in the campaign, as will race and
gender, which is unfortunate," Danigelis said. "Maybe this is the
campaign to knock down a bunch of stereotypes."

The study was published in the October 2007 issue of the
journal American Sociological Review.

In the future, the researchers hope to investigate whether
similar trends occur in other cultures and societies.

"There are international surveys that might allow you
to do a similar study," Danigelis said. "Our gut feeling is yes but
we haven’t tested that and we hope to."

Clara has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has written for both Space.com and Live Science.